Tuesday, March 11, 2014

All I want to say is WTF????It's quite saddening and discouraging to hear this news. I don't know about you, but it's obvious to me that the HK government is "out to get" Ricky Wong....Other than that, I'm utterly speechless right now....

Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) has postponed the launch of its mobile television service for an unspecified period and suspended filming of new programmes after it was told that its proposals did not satisfy legal requirements.

In a statement, HKTV said it received “an unfavourable reply” from the Office of the Communications Authority (Ofca) on Tuesday afternoon regarding the service’s transmission standards and its compliance with the Broadcasting Ordinance.

“Ofca is of the view that the company’s proposed transmissions standard would render its mobile television service immediately available for reception by an audience of more than 5,000 specified premises in Hong Kong,” the company said in the statement.The company had been in discussion with the broadcasting watchdog over legal and technical aspects of its mobile television plan, particularly its transmission standards and its use of rooftop sites. The company had originally scheduled to launch the new service on July 1.

HKTV said it had been told by the broadcasting watchdog that it had to get a domestic free-to-view or pay-TV licence first before launching a mobile TV service.

“Thereby [it requires] the company to obtain a domestic free television programme service licence and/or a domestic pay television programme service licence before the commencement of its mobile television operations,” it said.

In light of this latest development, HKTV said it now expected that the launch date of its over-the-top (OTT) and mobile television services would be postponed. It did not specify the expected length of the postponement.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, HKTV chairman Ricky Wong Wai-kay said the authority’s latest decision was absurd and “extremely rude”.

“HKTV is forced into a dead end,” he said. “I don’t know when, or whether, HKTV can really launch its television service,” he said.

The government rejected HKTV’s bid for a free-to-air TV licence last October when it awarded a licence to each of two other competing companies. This sparked a week-long protest with tens of thousands rallying outside the government headquarters in Tamar.